It is known to provide, for racks, shelves, three-dimensional latticeworks and other articles for office, factory, institutional or household use, e.g. as a bin support, a frame assembly which comprises a plurality of relatively elongated frame elements interconnected at their ends or connected at their ends to support or other structures by releasable connecting members, each of which may have a pair of jaws or halves which clamp the element between them.
With the aid of such releasable or detachable connecting members, it is possible to assemble such a frame structure relatively quickly, to readily disassemble the frame structure or to alter the configuration of the frame structure for the particular needs of the household, office or the like. Up to now, the connecting members have had to be of special shape and relatively complex configuration and this shape or configuration would vary depending upon the position of the connecting member, i.e. whether it was located at a corner or only an edge of the frame assembly, and in accordance with the particular type of connection intended, i.e. whether the connection was to another similar frame element, to a support structure or to some other body.
Thus, it could generally be said that the shape of the connecting member depended upon the configuration or nature of the noncircular structure to which the circular cross-section frame element was to be connected.
This had the disadvantage that a considerable variety of connecting members had to be provided and kept on hand. The versatility of the system was minimal because of the need to use special parts for special purposes both at the attachment to the frame elements and at the attachment to any support or length structure to which the frame element was to be connected.